Minnesota Twins’ Matt Wallner runs the bases after hitting a grand slam against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at Target Field in Minneapolis on Tue Sep 26, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s lost again for the 109th time in 2023. The Minnesota Twins, third in the American League with 223 home runs, used the long ball to beat the A’s 11-3.

Oakland’s pitchers helped the Twins by issuing three walks in the first, and all three scored on Matt Wallner’s grand slam. Again, in the seventh. A’s pitchers Francisco Perez and Zach Neal walked three Twins hitters. One walked forced in a run, and Twins’ catcher Christian Vazquez’s double to right-centerfield cleared the bases.

The Twins scored two in the fifth. Former San Francisco Giants’s Donovan Solano started the rally by getting a walk. Twins’ first baseman blasted an opposite-field home run to put the Twins ahead 7-0.

The only offense the A’s could mount came in the top of the seventh. Brent Rooker singled, and Seth Brown homered to make it 7-2. The Twins put four on the board in their half of the seventh to break the game wide open.

As mentioned above, it was the A’s 109th loss of the year. The A’s broke the record for futility set by the 1979 A’s team. Fortunately, there are only five games left to play this year.

Game Notes- With the loss, the A’s are 48-109, 61 games below 500. The Twins, who captured the Central Division crown yesterday, improved to 84-73. The Twins will be the third seed in the American League playoffs and have the home-field advantage in the Wild Card Round.

The hitting star for the Twins was Donovan Solano. Solano had three singles and a double and reached base five times. Matt Wallner and Alex Kiriloff homered for the Twins.

The only bright spot for Oakland was Seth Brown’s home run.

The line score for Oakland was two runs, eight hits, and no errors. Paul Blackburn was the losing pitcher. His line was three innings pitched, and he allowed five runs and four hits. Blackburn walked four, and three scored.

The Twins line was 11 runs, eight hits, and no errors. Bailey Ober was the winning pitcher.

The A’s play the Twins again Wednesday night. A’s rookie pitcher Joey Estes (0-1 ERA 9.64) will make his second Major League start. The Twins will counter with Pablo Lopez (11-8 ERA 3.61).

Over 22,000 fans sat through a rainy evening to watch the Twins pound the A’s